Association between the levels of toxic heavy metals and schizophrenia in the population of Guangxi, China: A case-control study.

The relationship between body levels of heavy metals and the risk of schizophrenia remains unclear. This study investigates the relationship between plasma levels of toxic heavy metals and the risk of schizophrenia among adults in Guangxi, China. Plasma concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and chromium (Cr) were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

Use of the Chinese version of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery to assess cognitive functioning in individuals with high risk for psychosis, first-episode schizophrenia and chronic schizophrenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

More than one hundred studies have used the mainland Chinese version of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) to assess cognition in schizophrenia, but the results of these studies, the quality of the reports, and the strength of the evidence provided in the reports have not been systematically assessed. We identified 114 studies from English-language and Chinese-language databases that used the Chinese MCCB to assess cognition in combined samples of 7394 healthy controls (HC), 392 individuals with clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P), 4922 with first-episode schizophrenia (FES), 1549 with chronic schizophrenia (CS), and 2925 with schizophrenia of unspecified duration. The mean difference (MD) of the composite MCCB T-score (-13.

Differentiation of testicular seminomas from nonseminomas based on multiphase CT radiomics combined with machine learning: A multicenter study.

Background: Differentiating seminomas from nonseminomas is crucial for formulating optimal treatment strategies for testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs). Therefore, our study aimed to develop and validate a clinical-radiomics model for this purpose.

Methods: In this study, 221 patients with TGCTs confirmed by pathology from four hospitals were enrolled and classified into training (n = 126), internal validation (n = 55) and external test (n = 40) cohorts.

Association of non-essential metals with Chinese schizophrenia: A case-control study.

Background: The potential link between environmental pollutants, including metals, and schizophrenia development remains debated. This study aimed to explore the association between plasma levels of three non-essential metals-barium (Ba), tungsten (W), and uranium (U)-and schizophrenia risk among Chinese individuals.

Method: We recruited a total of 221 patients and 219 healthy controls.

Ultrasound-based deep learning radiomics nomogram for risk stratification of testicular masses: a two-center study.

Objective: To develop an ultrasound-driven clinical deep learning radiomics (CDLR) model for stratifying the risk of testicular masses, aiming to guide individualized treatment and minimize unnecessary procedures.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 275 patients with confirmed testicular lesions (January 2018 to April 2023) from two hospitals, split into training (158 cases), validation (68 cases), and external test cohorts (49 cases). Radiomics and deep learning (DL) features were extracted from preoperative ultrasound images.

Identification of Key Genes Mediated by N6-Methyladenosine Methyltransferase METTL3 in Ischemic Stroke via Bioinformatics Analysis and Experiments.

The N6-methyladenosine (mA) methyltransferase METTL3 has been demonstrated to function in mediating mA modification, but its role in ischemic stroke (IS) has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to explore the downstream mechanism of METTL3-mediated mA modification in IS. GSE16561 and GSE22255 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database for analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and it was found that METTL3 mRNA was downregulated in IS.

Importance of GWAS Risk Loci and Clinical Data in Predicting Asthma Using Machine-learning Approaches.

Introduction: To understand the risk factors of asthma, we combined genome-wide association study (GWAS) risk loci and clinical data in predicting asthma using machine-learning approaches.

Methods: A case-control study with 123 asthmatics and 100 controls was conducted in the Zhuang population in Guangxi. GWAS risk loci were detected using polymerase chain reaction, and clinical data were collected.

A Potential Immune-Related miRNAs Regulatory Network and Corresponding Diagnostic Efficacy in Schizophrenia.

Purpose: Immune-related pathways actively participate in the progression of schizophrenia (SCZ), however, roles of immune-related miRNAs in SCZ are still unclear.

Methods: A microarray expression study was conducted to explored roles of immune-related genes in SCZ. Functional enrichment analysis by using "clusterProfiler" was used to identify molecular alterations of SCZ.

Age at smoking initiation and smoking cessation influence the incidence of stroke in China: a 10-year follow-up study.

Our study aimed to explore the correlation between age at smoking initiation and smoking cessation for the risk for stroke in China. We investigated 50,174 participants from one of the urban areas of China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) Study. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for association between smoking and incidence of stroke were estimated using Cox regression model.

Healthy sleep pattern reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease: A 10-year prospective cohort study.

Objective: To identify the association between quantified sleep factors and the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) through a 10-year prospective cohort study.

Methods: A total of 45,919 individuals were recruited in this population-based prospective study. The healthy sleep score was constructed by four sleep measures (sleep duration, insomnia symptoms, snoring and daytime sleepiness), which were collected by questionnaire.

A spatiotemporal steroidogenic regulatory network in human fetal adrenal glands and gonads.

Human fetal adrenal glands produce substantial amounts of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which is one of the most important precursors of sex hormones. However, the underlying biological mechanism remains largely unknown. Herein, we sequenced human fetal adrenal glands and gonads from 7 to 14 gestational weeks (GW) 10× Genomics single-cell transcriptome techniques, reconstructed their location information by spatial transcriptomics.

GRID2 aberration leads to disturbance in neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions via changes to the species richness and composition of gut microbes.

Objective: To explore the association between phenotype and the gut microbiome following damage to the GRID2 gene.

Methods: Ten wild-type (WT) mice and 11 GRID2 knockout heterozygous mice (GRID2(±)) of a similar age and weight were randomly selected. Fresh feces were collected from both groups of mice under specified pathogen-free (SPF) conditions.

Total flavonoids of hawthorn leaves protect spinal motor neurons promotion of autophagy after spinal cord injury.

The death of spinal motor neurons (SMNs) after spinal cord injury (SCI) is a crucial cause, contributing to a permanent neurological deficit. Total flavonoids of hawthorn leaves (TFHL) have been confirmed to have potentially therapeutic for SCI. Nonetheless, the roles and mechanisms of TFHL in recovering neuromotor function and regenerating axons of SMNs have not been fully elucidated.

Whole Transcriptome Sequencing Identified CircRNA Profiles and the Related Networks in Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a complex psychiatric syndrome with uncertain etiology. This study aimed to uncover the expression profiles and related regulatory networks of circular RNA (circRNA) in SCZ. Whole transcriptome sequencing was performed to assess the expression profiles of circRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs) in the peripheral blood of three patients with SCZ and three healthy controls.

Genome-wide association studies-supported rs12966547 variant of the long noncoding RNA LOC105372125 is significantly associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in Han Chinese women.

Objective: Genome-wide association studies have found that rs12966547 polymorphism was associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia in European populations. Recent studies showed that a genetic overlap may exist in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Here, we analyzed the associations between LOC105372125 rs12966547 polymorphism and schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in the Han Chinese population.

The role of age at menarche and age at menopause in Alzheimer's disease: evidence from a bidirectional mendelian randomization study.

The association between endogenous estrogen exposure and Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains inconclusive in previous observational studies, and few Mendelian randomization (MR) studies have focused on their causality thus far. We performed a bidirectional MR study to clarify the causality and causal direction of age at menarche and age at menopause, which are indicators of endogenous estrogen exposure, on AD risk. We obtained all genetic datasets for the MR analyses using publicly available summary statistics based on individuals of European ancestry from the IEU GWAS database.

LncRNA SERPINB9P1 expression and polymorphisms are associated with ischemic stroke in a Chinese Han population.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were reported to play important roles in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke (IS). Our study aimed to investigate the role of lncRNA SERPINB9P1 expression in ischemic stroke and the association between SERPINB9P1 polymorphisms and IS risk, as well as examine the correlation of SERPINB9P1 expression and variants with clinical parameters of IS. The SERPINB9P1 levels in human participants and oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)-treated human A172 cells were measured by qRT-PCR.

LncRNA H19 rs4929984 Variant is Associated with Coronary Artery Disease Susceptibility in Han Chinese Female Population.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to play an important role in cardiovascular diseases. The present study aimed to investigate the levels of lncRNA H19 in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and the genetic association of lncRNA H19 rs217727 and rs4929984 polymorphisms with CAD susceptibility. We detected an upregulated expression of lncRNA H19 in the peripheral blood of CAD patients compared with healthy controls, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of lncRNA H19 for CAD diagnosis was 0.

Adiponectin affects estimated glomerular filtration rate: A two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.

Background: The causal relationship between adiponectin (ADPN) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is unclear. This study adopts a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) study to explore the causal relationship between ADPN and eGFR.

Methods: Using eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of ADPN and 26 SNP of eGFR as instrumental variables, the study performs a two-sample bidirectional MR study using MR inverse-variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger and weighted median approach to evaluate the causal relationship between ADPN and eGFR.

The machine learning algorithm for the diagnosis of schizophrenia on the basis of gene expression in peripheral blood.

Background: Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a highly heritable mental disorder with a substantial disease burden. Machine learning (ML) method can be used to identify individuals with SCZ on the basis of blood gene expression data with high accuracy.

Methods: This study aimed to differentiate patients with SCZ from healthy individuals by using the messenger RNA expression level in peripheral blood of 48 patients with SCZ and 50 controls via ML algorithms, namely, artificial neural networks, extreme gradient boosting, support vector machine (SVM), decision tree, and random forest.

Phosphoinositide-3-kinase regulatory subunit 1 gene polymorphisms are associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in the Han Chinese population.

Schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) are severe psychiatric disorders that share many genetic risk factors. This study aimed to investigate the association of phosphoinositide-3-kinase regulatory subunit1 (PIK3R1) gene rs3756668 and rs3730089 polymorphisms with SCZ and BD risks and determine the expression levels of PIK3R1. A total of 548 SCZ cases, 512 BD cases, and 598 healthy controls were included in this study.

LncRNA SNHG7 Functions as an Oncogene in Cervical Cancer by Sponging miR-485-5p to Modulate JUND Expression.

Background: Long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) SNHG7 is involved in the development of multiple cancers. However, its role in cervical cancer (CC) has not been elucidated. This study aimed to explore the function of SNHG7 in CC progression and the underlying mechanisms.

Elevated C-reactive protein and complement C3 levels are associated with preterm birth: a nested case-control study in Chinese women.

Background: Currently, there are many studies researched the associations between maternal serum inflammatory indicators (i.e. ferritin, C-reactive protein [CRP], C3 and C4) and preterm birth (PTB).

Associations between multiple serum metal exposures and low birth weight infants in Chinese pregnant women: A nested case-control study.

To investigate the associations between prenatal exposure to single metal and multiple metals and the risk of low birth weight (LBW), we conducted a nested case-control study of 246 LBW and 406 NBW mother-infant pairs based on a prospective birth cohort study. 22 serum metals were detected by inductively coupled plasma quadruple mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Categorical analyses showed serum Co and Ti were associated with LBW (Co: 3rd vs 4th.